Speech by the Mpumalanga MEC for Economic Development,
Environment and Tourism, Mr JL Mahlangu, during the Ehlanzeni Tourism Kruger
Day, Kruger National Park, Ehlanzeni District
30 April 2010
Programme Director, Mr William Mabasa
Our host, the Executive Mayor of Ehlanzeni district municipality, Her Worship
Councillor Khosi Mkhonto
Honourable MEC for Culture, Sport and Recreation, Mr Vusi Shongwe
Deputy Mayor of the district, Councillor Selby Khumalo
Members of the Mayor Committee present
Managing Director of the Kruger National Park, Mr Abe Sibiya
Our social partners, business and product owners
Invited guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Good evening!
There is an Indian saying which says and I quote: "We do not inherit
this land from our ancestors, (but) we borrow it from our children".
Councillor Mkhonto, ladies and gentlemen, let start off by appreciating
the invitation from the district municipality, to be part of and to address this
significant event, aimed at promoting tourism in the district to ensure that
product owners and local communities benefit from the windfall being afforded by
the forthcoming biggest sporting event in the universe.
It can only mean that "working together, we can do more" to grow our
tourism industry for the benefit of our people. Ladies and gentlemen, I've
deemed it relevant to start my speech with the Indian quotation, for the fact
that we collectively have a responsibility over our environment.
The Bill of Rights in our progressive Constitution states that
"everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or
well being and to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and
future generations".
Based on this constitutional mandate to all of us, you will understand
why I believe the Indian saying is relevant. Indeed we've borrowed the use of
our environment from our children; hence we have a collective responsibility to
conserve it for their future use. We have their permission to enjoy it now,
though responsibly, but we must ensure that they too, will have an opportunity
to enjoy it, lest we will never find eternal peace when we have departed. We
dare not fail to live up to the commitments we made in our Constitution.
Our Constitution mandates us to "prevent pollution and ecological
degradation, promote conservation and to secure ecologically sustainable
development and the use of natural resources while promoting justifiable
economic and social development".
Everyone is a tourist and as we re-discover life in our internationally
renowned Kruger National Park, we must also re-commit ourselves to life that is,
re-commit that we believe and support the life after us, the future generations
who are constitutionally equal beneficiaries. As we re-discover life in
Ehlanzeni where the sun rises, we must re-commit ourselves to continue to be
pioneers to save our environment.
Our environment faces serious challenges of pollution, waste and
de-forestation attributed to development, which has led to global warming. I
believe we cannot therefore, fold our arms and continue to live life as normal,
even though the reality of climate change is starring at us. I believe none of
us want to be counted when our children look back to inspect the damage, we
caused them.
As we look forward to host the world in 41 days during the 2010 FIFA
World Cup games, we must always remember the challenges we face and at the same
time start to act to mitigate the effects of those challenges. Temperatures
across the world are starting to rise, sea levels are also rising and the
unpredictable weather pattern is fast becoming a reality.
If we continue to act irresponsibly towards our environment, we will
eventually find ourselves submerged under water, with no food and diseases being
rampant. The big question is: who will you blame? The answer is in your hands!
Ladies and gentlemen, as graders pack and go, single lanes broaden and
the construction sites are cleared, we need to remain mindful that the real work
for us in the tourism sector has just started. As one of the host cities for the
2010 FIFA World Cup games, our capital city Mbombela is geared up to receive the
world.
The challenge we are still facing though in our tourism and hospitality
industry, is the level of customer service. Our front-line staff remains
critical, as they are our ambassadors in the industry. Their attitude can make
or break us, hence we will from 13 to 19 May 2010, embark on a service
excellence training for over 12 000 front-line staff across the province. We all
have to elbow the wheel and be good hosts, thus ensuring that our hospitality
industry is permanently engraved in the minds of our visitors after
re-discovering Life in our scenic district and province at large
Ladies and gentlemen, the decision to earn eternal interest from the
proceeds of the world cup is solely in our hands. Give our tourist a warm
Mpumalanga welcome, show them that we are people who love and cherish visitors.
I believe that this district municipality, under the leadership of Executive
Mayor, Councillor Mkhonto, have made significant strides in ensuring that we
continue to communicate our readiness, our products and our people’s
hospitality.
You continued to ensure that our municipalities are beautified and that
the infrastructure has been improved in preparation of the world cup. Our
tourism entity, the Mpumalanga Tourism and parks agency (MTPA) under the
leadership of Mr Charles Ndabeni, has also made significant strides in ensuring
that we market our tourism destinations to the world. We can also congratulate
them, for clinching a deal with Comair, which will make flying to the province
very affordable.
This deal will see Comair flying six times a week to the Kruger
Mpumalanga international Airport (KMIA) and will for the first time, offer
business class. We believe that the deal came at a right time, just as we are
anticipating a huge number of foreign visitors to decent on our doorstep. The
inaugural Comair flight to the province will land on Tuesday, 4 May at the KMIA,
where the project will be launched.
In preparing for the world cup, we can report that we have amongst
others, successfully trained tour guides and a number of front-line staff on
customer relations and in foreign languages like French and Portuguese. We are
confident that they are ready to smile and say "welcome to Mpumalanga" in the
language of the guests.
This region, Ehlanzeni, was the first to call upon our neighbours in
Mozambique and Swaziland to partner with us on this journey. Today, the people
of the two countries feel the football fever as it sweeps through the Mozambican
coastline and the Swazi escarpment.
Through our cooperation agreement and joint initiatives with our
neighbouring countries, Ehlanzeni has really made Mpumalanga a true African host
province
Our ports of entry, both air and land, are welcoming because of the
great work the district and all other stakeholders has done. Your commitment as
a district towards promoting and growing our tourism industry is much
appreciated.
The scramble for the last tourist standing is yet to start and you must
have that tourist as Ehlanzeni. We must continue to market our destination and
lay bare her offerings. At the same time, business needs to see the events of
the next two months not as an inconvenience, but as a great feast, for the
people will benefit economically.
You need to prepare and pay your staff for the long hours and for extra
efforts, you will need to improve your service standards and improve your
products, if you want to smile all the way to the bank.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the next few weeks before the greatest soccer
spectacular in the world, we will do the following:
- Open the visitor's information centre and customer assistance
facility in Komatipoort, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and the
Nkomazi local municipality
- Announce an agreement with Shosholoza Meyl and the Passenger Rail
Agency of South Africa regarding a special train service from Maputo to
Nelspruit for the duration of the Mbombela games.
As I close, may I take this opportunity to convey our sincerest
appreciation to all those workers, who toiled in the scorching sun and the
torrential rains to deliver the infrastructure in time.
Ladies and gentleman, as of tonight we can no longer speak of the last
lap, for we have torn the finishing line ribbon. The next 40 days are, but a
victory and celebratory lap. Despite all doubt cast and doom predicted, our
nation is ready to host the world. Well done to all of us.
Once more, let me congratulate the district municipality, for adhering
to its mandate of ensuring a conducive environment for the development of the
tourism sector in its jurisdiction. Your continuing efforts to harness this
sector, which is the ‘gold mine’ of the province, are highly appreciated.
Indeed "working together, we can do more" to grow our tourism industry
for the benefit of our people. I leave you with an inspiring quote from American
author and motivator, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who once said and I quote: "Most of
the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine".
I hope you are not standing in front of your own sunshine, lest you
moan about the darkness caused by your own shadow.
Africa, Ke Nako!
Nyalo Litfuba leAfrika!
Agora eahora!
Obrigado!
Issued by: Mpumalanga Department of Economic
Development, Environment and Tourism
